Now And Forever
by XThatsAProblemX
Summary: The Doctor and Rose come back from an outing to find an unexpected face from his past waiting in the TARDIS. T to be safe. 10/OC


So... I got an idea for another story. Hopefully this works better than my last one...

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Rose was getting tired of walking through future London. She'd been to London in the later future and this wasn't much different.

"Doctor," She whined. "Can't we just go back to the TARDIS now?" He looked back at her and frowned.

"Why?" There was a tone of hurt in his voice.

"Well... It's just a bit, y'know, boring here." She shrugged. He sighed.

"Yeah, I guess." He muttered, before turning and walking back the few blocks to where he'd parked. He unlocked the door and they stepped in... But something was off. The TARDIS hummed a bit louder and higher than usual. "What is it?" He asked.

"Is there something wrong with her?" Rose questioned. He pressed his ear to the console and frowned slightly.

"Hmm. I'm not sure. She's acting differently, but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong." He said, straightening up and walking down a hallway.

"Wait, where are you going?" She asked, running after him. She'd never been down this hallway before and it gave her the creeps, now that the new humming was accompanying its sudden use.

"There's a room down here that hasn't been used in a while and I think the TARDIS is sensing energy from in it." He said, pulling out some sort of blinking device and walking faster. "Yes, there's definitely something here." He said quietly. He stopped abruptly in front of a door and took a deep breath.

"What's this room?" Rose asked, glancing sideways at him. He shook his head.

"A room I thought I'd never need to enter again." He said, still staring straight at the door. He lifted his hand and hesitated before turning the handle and pushing it softly. The door inched open and Rose could see what looked like an ordinary bedroom. The walls were a rich plum color and they were covered with small sketches and photos. She walked inside and heard the Doctor take in a sharp breath.

"It's just a room, Doctor." She went closer to the sketches and saw that a number of them were of an attractive young man. Sometimes he was smiling, and in one, he had his hand outstretched, as if to take the hand of the person outside and pull them into the small paper world. Some of the pictures were of him too. Him and a woman. She looked about the same age, and in any picture where they were together, she was smiling brightly.

"This was her room." His voice made her jump after the few minutes of silence. "She was a brilliant artist." Rose nodded in agreement. "All of these are from memory... except," He pointed to another one of the same young man. "That one. That one she actually made me sit there for." He smiled slightly. "When I asked why, she said she just wanted to memorize my face. Just in case anything happened."

"You think she was lying." It was more of a statement.

"I didn't mind. It was nice to sit with her before... Well, before things went bad." He sighed and lowered his hand. "That was one of the last times I saw her." She moved to put a hand on his arm, but he shook his head for her to stop.

"So that's what you looked like all that time ago?" He nodded. "Wow, you were together then?"

"Oh, not at all. She was my best friend. I mean, I liked her, but we decided it was easier to stay friends." He reached up and brushed his hand over a photograph of the woman smiling. "She really was beautiful..." He said it so quietly that Rose decided that she probably shouldn't have heard it.

The sound of the door opening made them swivel around. A figure emerged, carrying a stack of books. The Doctor and the figure froze at the same time and Rose saw that it was the exact same woman from the pictures. She dropped her books and took a step forward. The Doctor mirrored her motions and they both continued walking until they met in the middle, capturing in a tight embrace.

It felt wrong to be watching this, Rose decided. Seeing this pure display of relief and emotion felt somehow like an intrusion on their privacy. Their innermost feelings being shown outwardly in a tight, nearly crushing, hold. The pair stayed that way for several minutes as Rose stood uncomfortably in the background. When they finally released each other, it was only enough so that they could be looking face-to-face.

"You survived?" He spoke in a near whisper. She nodded.

"I knew you'd come here. I escaped with him, and asked him to bring me here. We waited for ages, and he told me you'd never show up. That you went back to find me and died. He left when I wouldn't speak to him. I stayed for decades and when I heard the sound of the TARDIS, I knew it had to be you. I ran here to find you... I've still got the key." Rose's head was spinning now.

"He brought you here?"

"Yes. He knew I wouldn't stay if he tried anything else anyway, so he just let me go here." The Doctor nodded and they stood there in silence until Rose cleared her throat. They turned to see her. They looked like they'd completely forgotten her.

"Um... What's going on here?" The Doctor beamed.

"This is her, the one who did all of this. This is my brilliantly _alive_ friend, the Professor." He said with excitement. "See? She's still the same, even now."

"Now and Forever." She said, smiling back up at him. For now, in this unclear moment, Rose could only wonder what that meant.

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Yeah, I'm kinda working out the kinks in my storyline, but I had to get this out there to see what people thought. I've got more planed out, so PLEASE review if you liked, so I may continue!!


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